After the war, it was briefly engaged in occupation duties and, upon return to the United States, it was inactivated at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia on 2 November 1945.

On 21 September 1943, the battalion moved by train to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where they made final preparations for overseas deployment).

[6] The battalion arrived first at Cwrt-y-Gollen, Wales, which served as its home base, then conducted gunnery training at Castlemartin on the south coast of Pembrokeshire and field exercises with the 82nd Airborne Division at Strawberry Hill near Mansfield, England.

[7] Coming ashore at Utah Beach on 30 June, the 744th Tank Battalion (Light) was under the operational control of the First Army and moved inland from the slowly growing beachhead and reached Cerisy-la-Forêt, where, on 16 July, they were attached to the 2nd Infantry Division.

Operation Cobra began on 25 July and the 744th went into action at 0600 on the following day, attacking southward from Saint-Germain-d’Elle with the 9th Infantry toward Vidouville, Mouffet, Rouxeville and Saint-Jean-des-Baisants.

[9] The entire 744th was attached to the 28th's 110th Infantry Regiment, which led the division’s attack south of Percy-en-Normandie toward Saint-Sever-Calvados and Champ-du-Boult as they entered the front lines in XIX Corps’s sector.

Progress of the 28th Division was initially slow due a combination of its newness to combat, the difficult bocage terrain, and the last gasp of organized resistance by the Wehrmacht.

[13] Unable to continue offensive operations due to the ongoing shortage of fuel and supplies at the front and the priority of support to Operation Market Garden, the battalion assumed a defensive line oriented north-northeast, from the Maas north of Grevenbicht to the east of Millen (Selfkant) [de], Germany, and remained in these positions until 29 September, exchanging artillery fire with the Germans and conducting only small probes to their front.

[13] While the front had been static the previous week, the Germans had taken the opportunity to strengthen the sector and the 113th Cavalry Group encountered unexpectedly heavy resistance.

However, heavy resistance from elements of the 176th Infantry Division, reinforced with artillery, mortar, automatic weapons, and direct-fire self-propelled guns prevented any significant gains.

[17][18] The 744th spent the next several days resting and refitting and, on 25 November, received orders to move as part of the 113th Cavalry Group to the left flank of the 84th Infantry Division to the northeast of Geilenkirchen, Germany and advance on an axis on the east bank of the Wurm River, curiously oriented northwestward through the rear of the West Wall.

[18][19] However, due to fierce resistance by the German defenders in the vicinity of Leiffarth, the mission was changed to a defensive one oriented on Müllendorf and Wurm with the 744th serving as the Group reserve located at Frelenberg [de].

The battalion remained as Group reserve until 7 December, when they rotated forward with an attached infantry company and relieved the 113th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron on the line in the vicinity of {{|Süggerath|de}}.

[20] The tankers and their infantry attachment actively patrolled toward the enemy positions in Müllendorf, Wurm, and Leiffarth and small arms, automatic weapons, and occasional indirect fire were sporadically traded with the Germans.

Given the larger operational situation with the German offensive still underway, the 744th remained the only corps reserve and had to be prepared for action in case of a tactical emergency even as they transitioned to the new tanks.

With the tactical situation still uncertain, training proceeded over the next few days in two-day increments, with classes on maintenance and vehicle storage as well as live direct fire gunnery practice.

Crews from the platoons still equipped with the M5A1 Stuarts were rotated onto the new tanks in order to receive familiarization training and live fire practice.

Throughout this period of re-equipping the battalion, one company was always on alert as a quick reaction force in case the tactical situation required it.

However, due to thawing conditions and heavy rain, roads were nearly impassible to vehicles and only outposts were set up in Kirchberg, while the main force relocated to positions near Langweiler (Aldenhoven) [de].

[3] The battalion was in place to support the assault of the 175th Infantry Regiment across the Roer on 10 February, when the Germans disabled the discharge vales on the Schwammenauel Dam some 30 km upstream the day before.

[23] The delay created a lull in the fighting, with intermittent automatic weapons, mortar, and indirect fires traded with the Germans on the east bank of the Roer, while the tankers practiced coordinating tactical operations with the infantry of the 29th Division.

The infantrymen established a sufficient foothold on the east bank to enable the engineers to build a bridge across the Roer and the 744th's tanks crossed in the early hours of 24 February.

[24] With the initial assault mission complete, the battalion was detached from the 30th Division and re-attached to the 113th Cavalry Group on 1 March and placed in XIX Corps reserve.

Both regiments had pushed east past the Wesel – Dinslaken railway line and, mounting infantry on the 744th’s tanks, the 120th Infantry achieved the deepest penetration of any unit in Operation Flashpoint, reaching the east side of Voerde before retiring to positions further west, since supporting artillery could not cover their positions from the west bank of the Rhine.

TF Hunt soon encountered elements of the 116th Panzer Division, which was still in the process of redeploying into the sector, and firefights broke out every 500 yards or so as they moved east.

Although severely depleted by losses on the Western Front ever since the Normandy landings, the 116th Panzer Division was one of the most experienced units in the West and, aided by dense woods and a narrow constricted road network, exacted a toll on TF Hunt.

Company C was selected to support the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry’s local attack east toward Feldhausen (Bottrop) [de], pushing the front just 5 km during the day.

On 5 April, the 75th Infantry Division received new orders to advance to the south toward Dortmund, executing a 90-degree turn to squeeze the Ruhr Pocket and cut it into smaller redoubts to be reduced piecemeal.

[36] The 744th continued occupation duties until 30 September,[37] then was transported to a cigarette camp in France to prepare for return to the United States.

The battalion returned to the United States at the Hampton Roads Port of Debarkation and was inactivated at Camp Patrick Henry on 3 November 1945.